Varun Pai
Gary Neville believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to compensate for the poor work-rate of Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo
Speaking to Sky Bet’s The Overlap Fan Debate (h/t Daily Mail), Gary Neville has instructed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to cover for the poor work rate of Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Red Devils have not picked up a victory in 2 Premier League games and have looked lacklustre defensively for a lot of games this season. Besides games against Newcastle United and Leeds United, the Manchester-based club have had narrow victories.
Cristiano Ronaldo was signed for this very reason, and the Portuguese has delivered with five goals in five league starts. However, the 36-year-old fails to press from the front and puts very little pressure on defenders to concede possession.
Gary Neville has now explained this situation in depth and has instructed Ole Gunnar Solskajer to compensate for the centre-forward’s poor work-rate off-the-ball. Neville told Sky Bet’s The Overlap Fan Debate (h/t Daily Mail):
“He (Ronaldo) is playing up front there now, you are never going to press from the front. The idea that Manchester United are going to be a pressing team is never going to happen, he wasn’t pressing 10 or 15 years ago.
“What they have to find now is a way of playing with Ronaldo in there. I support the signing, he is great… I love him to bits, I couldn’t love him anymore, but United have to find a way of playing to compensate him.”
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The striker has often structured his game this way as he uses his energy in the final third of the pitch rather than hunting down the ball.
Although he does provide the end result, the rest of the team might have to press harder, as was the case for Ronaldo’s teammates at Juventus and Real Madrid. Regardless, it remains to be seen whether Solskjaer addresses this problem sooner rather than later.
